Interview: Julian Rios ~ Physician Assistant

Pronouns: he/his

Current job title: PA-C Physician Assistant-Certified. Las Vegas emergency department with a brief stint here in NYC helping out with COVID

Education Background: Undergrad at Pepperdine University. Graduate school at Touro-NV

What skills did you acquire as a student that prepared you the most for your position/career?

• Patience

• Humbleness

• Academic knowledge

Which activities or courses do you wish you had taken to be better prepared for what you are doing right now?

Nothing can fully prepare you but experience as ER tech could have been helpful

What's a typical work week for you? Do you think that your duties are the same for anyone with your job title or level within an organization?

I work fourteen, 10-hour shifts a month. So my weeks can be 0-6 working days and are highly variable. It’s the nature of the ER. I do not think my duties are the same. There is high variance among the ER PAs. Some only do fast track, some just triage, while some get to do the most advanced procedures, such as central lines and intubations. I’m in between. I see high acuity patients in the first half of my shift before seeing more of the fast track type patients towards the end of the shift. I do have some additional duties as well because I am the lead APP at one of the hospitals I work at (my group works at 6 different hospitals).

What are the greatest rewards of your work?

When I am able to fix a problem, and the patient feels much better, example- a shoulder dislocation

If things develop as you would like, what types of career goals do you see for yourself?

Working the minimum amount of shifts to stay full time because I am also generating passive income on the side, and continuing to travel the world with my free time. I’ve already been a PA for 12 years.

Is there anything you wished you had known about this field when you were just starting out?

Many people did not know what a PA was, and it doesn’t translate well to Spanish

Has your typical work week changed prior to the Covid-19 outbreak? Why or why not?

It changed dramatically. In Las Vegas, the ER volume dropped as much as 35-40%. Thus my 10-hour shifts changed to 7-hour shifts so no one would get fired or furloughed. This opened the door to allow me to volunteer to come out to NYC to help out with the epicentre of the COVID pandemic. Everyone else could take my shifts for more hours, and I could learn some new skills in NYC

What has been the biggest challenge?

Keeping mentally sharp. Many of my colleagues are suffering from some psych related illness (mainly mental fatigue which can open the door to other stuff such as depression or PTSD) or from COVID itself, or suddenly suffering financially. It’s draining to wear PPE all shift every day. It also hurts to hear so many people not taking it seriously and refusing to make any sacrifices because they do not like hearing recommendations that may or may not help themselves. All this takes its toll on us not only physically but mentally as well. Many of us will not see our loved ones if we are in high-risk areas, and that is difficult.

Lastly, is there anything you want to shout out to the world?

Travel! Spend time doing things you enjoy. Do not take the future for granted. Work to live, not the other way around. IG Protagonist702. Thank you, Mimi. Cheers!